Lewis Pullman has inherited a rather inconvenient Hollywood superpower: being both a Marvel hero and Bill Pullman’s son. The younger Pullman is now known to a new generation as Sentry in the new Avengers, but his family name comes with serious cinematic baggage. Now, Spaceballs 2 is making the family connection even more gloriously meta, bringing Lewis Pullman together with his legendary father and the original film’s iconic star, Bill Pullman.

Lewis Pullman has now pulled back the curtain on what it feels like to share a cosmic comedy with his father.

Lewis Pullman arrived at San Diego Comic-Con on Friday, July 24, 2026, with a familiar family name and an extremely inconveniently famous father. During the Spaceballs: The New One panel, the younger actor appeared alongside Keke Palmer, Daphne Zuniga, and Rick Moranis, read a letter from Bill Pullman, and faced the inevitable question: what does one do when Dad is also Lone Starr?

“I don't have the words for it,” Lewis Pullman said, attempting to describe the experience of working with Bill Pullman. In Spaceballs: The New One, the father-son dynamic is not merely happening behind the scenes, either, since Bill Pullman returns as Lone Starr while Lewis Pullman plays Prince Starburst, his character's son. It is a wonderfully absurd case of Hollywood family business becoming canon.

“And I was like, didn't want to step into his shoes,” Lewis Pullman added while talking on the Comic-Con panel, which is understandable when those shoes belong to Lone Starr. But seeing how fun the script was and how he and his dad thought "might be our shot here" he decided to do the film. Leading to a delicious plot set forty years after the original film, Prince Starburst must team up with palace advisor Destiny to find his missing father after Lord Dark Helmet returns. So, yes, Lewis Pullman is technically following in Bill Pullman's footsteps while also playing the man who inherited them.

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Of course, curiosity about Lewis Pullman’s rise to stardom comes naturally when his résumé includes Vanessa Kirby and his father is Bill Pullman.

Being Bill Pullman’s son is a rather formidable head start, but Lewis Pullman initially seemed determined to take absolutely none of it. The future actor was more interested in social work and drumming in a band at Pomona College before student short films introduced him to acting. Then came blind auditions, Bad Times at the El Royale, and Top Gun: Maverick, with no paternal shortcut in sight.

Bill Pullman apparently let his son experience Hollywood the old-fashioned way: by finding the door and opening it himself. Lewis Pullman consciously avoided using his father’s connections, building a career that could stand without the famous surname doing the heavy lifting. Now, Spaceballs: The New One brings the two actors together in the ultimate full-circle twist, with Lewis Pullman finally joining Bill Pullman in a major franchise collaboration.

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Are you excited to see Lewis and Bill Pullman in Spaceballs: The New One? Let us know in the comments!